


Five Times Jean Grey Didn't Know What Magneto Was Thinking (And One Time She Did)

by heyjupiter



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Background Slash, Canon Compliant, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:49:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8668270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/pseuds/heyjupiter
Summary: Jean's understanding of Magneto evolves with time, even if it doesn't always line up with what the rest of the world thinks of him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pearl_o](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearl_o/gifts).



> Thanks to (anonymous) for the beta read!

1)

Like most people, Jean Grey saw Magneto for the first time on television. 

Unlike most people, when Jean saw Magneto flying above the White House lawn, she thought, _I could do that._ Well, not yet, she couldn't, but she'd recently discovered that she could move things with her mind. She hoped it meant she would one day be able to lift herself off the ground and fly like Magneto had. When her father saw her practicing with a pencil, he told her never to let anyone else see what she could do. 

"Why not?" she'd asked.

"Some things are private," he'd said, sternly. 

Jean thought about it for a moment. "Like how it was rude when I told Annie that our family has more money than her family?"

"Something like that, yes," he'd said.

Jean had nodded solemnly. She was only seven, but she understood that nobody liked a braggart. Other kids would be jealous if they knew what she could do.

So when she saw Magneto, floating around with a cape and telling mutants they didn't have to "hide in the shadows anymore," she didn't understand. Being polite wasn't the same thing as hiding in the shadows, was it? And what did he mean about brothers? For some reason, it hadn't occurred to her that there might be other kids--other people--who could do what she could do. 

She loved seeing Mystique, too--she was so beautiful, and she was so brave--but she couldn't shake the feeling she'd gotten from Magneto's speech, even if she still didn't quite understand it.

* * *

2) 

Professor Xavier had helped Jean with her telepathy a lot, but it was still harder for her to control than her telekinesis, He said it was partly because her telekinesis had manifested earlier, so she was more used to it, and partly because telepathy was a trickier gift to control.

Even at a school where all the students were mutants, most of Jean's classmates were afraid of her. She knew they were even if they didn't say it; in their minds she saw their fear of her reading their minds. She wasn't sure if it would scare them more if they realized she couldn't control it. She didn't _want_ to read their minds (at least, most of the time she didn't). But maybe saying that would hurt their feelings. Everyone wanted to believe their own thoughts were interesting.

Of everyone at the school, the Professor's thoughts were most interesting to her. But he was good at shielding himself from her, so she hardly ever heard his thoughts. Not when he was awake, anyway.

But when he was asleep, sometimes Jean saw his dreams. That was how she learned that Magneto had helped found the school. It was how she learned that the Professor had helped break Magneto out of jail. It was how she learned that Professor and Magneto had once been lovers. 

She and the Professor had an unspoken accord; he knew that she knew, but they'd never discussed his past with Magneto, so she was left to wonder why Magneto didn't come back to the school. She knew the Professor would let him, if he wanted to. Even if some of the students here would be afraid of him, wouldn't it be better to be here than out on your own somewhere? Hadn't he been the one who had called for brotherhood on TV years ago? Jean now knew that the way things played out, Mystique had become the hero and Magneto the villain. But things could change, couldn't they?

* * *

3)

When Jean first came to the school, she'd had daily private sessions with the Professor to get her telepathy under control. Now there were more students, and she'd gotten better at locking her power away in her mind, and they usually only met once a week. Jean usually looked forward to those sessions, but today she didn't really feel like it. She had a huge essay to write, and she wanted to watch Charlie's Angels.

She started off by asking the Professor to play chess with her while they practiced, which she knew would distract him.

Then, fidgeting with the white king, she telepathically asked, _Do you think he's dead?_

 _Who?_ the Professor replied.

 _Magneto,_ Jean thought back, though they both knew who she meant.

 _Do you think he is?_ The Professor always did this, answered a question with another question.

_I don't know. Nobody's heard anything from him in a long time, have they?_

_No, I suppose they haven't,_ Charles replied, after a much longer pause than his straightforward pawn movement required.

_If he were alive, don't you think he'd do something?_

_Like what?_

_I dunno. Doesn't he want to help mutants?_

_Perhaps he thinks the best thing he can do for mutants is to stay hidden._

_Is that what you think?_ Jean asked. Two could play at the "answer a question with a question" game.

 _I don't know,_ the Professor admitted, which was unusual for him. He sighed and stared at the chessboard. 

_Have you ever looked for him? In Cerebro?_

_What do you think?_

_Maybe he wants to be found,_ Jean replied, because she wanted it to be true.

Professor Xavier sighed and tipped over his king. Aloud, he said, "Jean, you can go watch television with your friends. We'll pick this up next week."

* * *

4)

Even as powerful as Jean had become--as powerful as she always was--she couldn't see through Magneto's helmet in Egypt. It was very irritating. She could see into the minds of the other Horsemen, a little. Enough to see that there was a difference between what they wanted and what Apocalypse had made them think they wanted.

Jean wasn't used to having unsatisfied curiosity. She wondered what Magneto wanted. She wondered what, exactly, made Magneto change his mind and join them in fighting Apocalypse. She had more important concerns at the moment, of course, but she continued to wonder about him.

She didn't have a chance to talk to him during their hasty regroup and return to New York, although she did talk to Ororo on their way home. Their conversation reinforced Jean's initial mental impression; that Ororo wanted to help other mutants. She hadn't understood what Apocalypse really wanted, not until it was too late. 

Jean wondered if Apocalypse could have convinced her to join him, and a small, vain part of her was disappointed that he hadn't tried.

"What do you know about Magneto?" Jean asked.

Ororo shrugged. "He was...very sad. Very angry. Very quiet."

That didn't tell Jean much she didn't already know.

Later, when they'd all had a chance to rest and recover, they could start to rebuild. The Professor had suggested that Magneto take his helmet off so they could work together with Jean to coordinate their efforts and use their abilities together. Magneto had agreed, but Jean had tried to be careful with her link. From his mind she mainly saw architectural designs and structural enhancements; she had no particular insight as to what Magneto might feel about seeing the school in ruins, or about getting to rebuild it. But she saw his face and thought she recognized hope in it.

Later, from the Danger Room, she overheard him leaving the school again, and still she wondered why. At first she thought maybe it was a test--Magneto wanted to see if the Professor would make him stay. But the Professor hadn't, and weeks went by without Magneto's return. 

What could he be doing that was more important than the school? Hadn't he seen that they were all stronger together?

* * *

5)

"What are you doing here, Jean?" Magneto asked, looking up from his copy of Le Monde. He wasn't wearing his helmet. He looked like anybody else in the cafe.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked, in response.

"Reading the newspaper. I don't like repeating myself, but I will: what are you doing here?"

"I was practicing with Cerebro. I found you," Jean said.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"Why did you leave the school?"

"Did Charles send you?" Magneto asked, sharply.

"No. It's summer vacation."

"So he doesn't know you're here?"

Jean just shrugged. They hadn't exactly spoken about it, but she was pretty sure he knew what she was doing. She wasn't sure what the right answer was--would Magneto want to know she had the Professor's blessing, or would he be angered by the Professor's intervention?

Magneto sighed. "Well, I suppose you'd better sit down," he said, gesturing at the empty chair across the small table from him.

She sat and repeated her question. "Why did you leave the school?"

"Charles knows why I left."

"Maybe, but I don't. I want to understand. I thought you wanted to help other mutants."

"Of course I do. But you don't need me at the school."

"Yes, I do. Remember what you said in Washington? No more hiding, no more suffering?"

Magneto sighed. "That was a long time ago, Jean."

"It was important. To me, to a lot of people. It gave us hope."

"Hope," Magneto repeated flatly.

"There are things you could teach us. That you could teach me."

"Charles is the teacher, not me."

"I know it's been awhile since you were in school, but most of them have more than one teacher."

"No one knows more about telepathy than Charles."

"Maybe, but I have telekinesis, too. And--" Jean hesitated, not sure how to say aloud, _Sometimes I'm so angry I'm afraid I'll burn the world down._

"And?"

"And I just think we could benefit from your...perspective."

"I'm still a wanted criminal. The school's better off without me."

"Is that really what you think?" Jean asked.

Magneto sighed. "I see you've learned debate from Charles."

"Is it?" Jean repeated.

"It's...complicated."

"What if you come back just for a little while? It's summer vacation."

"Not for me, it isn't."

Jean shrugged. "That's another reason to come back to the school, isn't it? Teachers get summer vacation."

Magneto cracked a faint smile. "I suppose they do."

Jean wasn't trying to pry, but Magneto wasn't wearing his helmet and he was thinking very strong thoughts. There was an almost tangible swirl of sadness around him, but also something like hope. She felt that she was close to persuading him, but it was a delicate thing. 

"Storm and I have been practicing flying, but we can't do it as well as you can."

"Oh, no?"

Jean shook her head sadly.

"Well, I suppose that won't do," Magneto said. 

Jean wasn't sure what, exactly, had convinced him to return, but she was glad it worked.

* * *

+1) 

"Jean, we're going to the mall, do you want to come?" Ororo asked.

"No, thanks," Jean replied. She was tired from a long week of study and Danger Room practice, and she really didn't want to be around so many people. 

"See you later," Ororo said, amicably. After she left their room, Jean went downstairs and curled up on a couch in the library with a magazine. One of the mansion's pet cats joined her. Minutes later, Professor Lehnsherr entered. He perused a shelf for several minutes before noticing her.

"Oh, Jean. I thought the students went to the mall." He'd only recently returned from a trip and he'd been a little gloomy since then, even for him. He'd probably been hoping to find the library empty.

"I didn't feel like shopping."

"Ah," he said, and then continued to linger.

"You can sit down," she offered. "There's plenty of room on this couch."

"Can you hear its thoughts?" Professor Lehnsherr asked.

"Who? The cat?" Jean asked.

"Yes."

"No, only people," Jean said. "I can guess, though...he's probably thinking 'I love food' and 'I love having my ears scratched.'"

Professor Lehnsherr said nothing. The cat purred. Jean studied Professor Lehnsherr's face closely, and she suddenly put together a few pieces of mental debris that had been floating around in her mind. A child, a bird, a cat, a lullabye...Professor Lehnsherr didn't wear his helmet around the school, and Jean's control of her telepathy was better than ever, but she still found herself accumulating stray thoughts.

"I thought with your increased power...perhaps you could," Professor Lehnsherr said with studied nonchalance, and Jean felt a pang for having teased him.

"You really want to know what Prince Pudding is thinking?" she asked.

"No, I suppose not."

"I think he wants you to hold him," Jean said, passing the fluffy cat over to him.

"No, I--" Professor Lehnsherr attempted to protest, but Prince Pudding was already settling into his lap.

"He wants you to scratch his ears," Jean said. 

Professor Lehnsherr raised his eyebrows, but he dutifully scratched the cat's ears. 

"He wants you to know you don't have to be alone if you don't want to be," Jean said.

"I thought you couldn't read his mind."

Jean shrugged. "It's just pretty obvious. I mean, look at him."

Prince Pudding was curled up contentedly on Professor Lehnsherr's lap. "I see," Professor Lehnsherr said quietly. "Well, thank you."

"I'm just the messenger. But, you know, Prince Pudding hangs out with pretty smart people. He's picked up some good ideas."

"I suppose he has," Professor Lehnsherr agreed.

"Cats know when to come out of the shadows."

Prince Pudding purred loudly.


End file.
